I was kind of hoping for Impulse Space, but they're probably too unproven.
One of Starship's engines on the lowest setting would tear the station apart. Regardless of whether they make this based on Starship instead of something more reasonably sized like a Dragon or Falcon 2nd stage, it'll still need either a new engine design or a big cluster of Dracos. It'll be something custom.
Regarding their Artemis work- the payments are milestone based, so they get money as they pass milestones. Engine relights and ship to ship prop transfer are some of the next ones.
Regarding their other customers- the Starship manifest includes another moon cruise, several satellite launches, and a lot of Starlinks.
Serious answer- SpaceX is building the deorbit vehicle then turning it over to NASA, who will have full control over it.
There's no way Russia builds a new station. The timeline for them getting Nauka to orbit basically proves that it's impossible. They've been trying to buddy up with China to visit theirs, though.
The docking adapters look pretty much the same (interlocking petals, not male/female) and can be active, passive, or both, but Dragon's is only active. Active has to dock to passive, so two Dragons couldn't dock.
SpaceX developed a new one that can be active or passive for Starship, which will have to dock with Orion and the Lunar Gateway.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-spacex-test-starship-lunar-lander-docking-system/
Maybe? Soyuz is too cramped, but Dragon might be able to fit extra people. A few years ago a NASA astronaut flew up on a leaky Soyuz, so they looked at using Dragon as a lifeboat:
https://www.space.com/nasa-spacex-dragon-rescue-spacecraft-soyuz-leak
Dragon was drawn up to fit 7 people, with 3 seats on the bottom and 4 on top. They ended up changing the seat angles for reentry, so now they only have 4.
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Starliner is still their emergency ride home in case a real alarm goes off, but they want to study the leak issue as much as possible before they separate their service module, which burns up during reentry.
Realistically, there's a SpaceX Dragon docked to the ISS, so that's probably their emergency shelter and ride home.
This process led to Falcon, which is one of the most reliable rockets of all time. The launch rate and reuse are unprecedented. Iterative design is a big part of how they got there. Their prowess in manufacturing and mass production is another large part of that success.
It sounds like they still have some hope of bringing it back, so, fingers crossed.
It looks like more Venus probes will start launching over the next few years. There's the Rocket Lab / MIT mission first, then more from the US, China, India, and Russia to close out the decade. Plus ESA's next probe in 2032.
I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed
Better than nothing. Hopefully this prevents some deaths.
And it will hallucinate and give wrong answers
I think Jared Isaacman is my favorite space billionaire? Not that that should be a thing, but he's at least spending his money on private missions that move technology development forward.
I'm rooting for Stoke and Radian to pull off full launch vehicle reuse.
I really want to see space agencies put out orbital debris cleanup bounties, especially for big things like spent upper stages and dead satellites.
They've actually done 2!
The 1st, in 2019, didn't get to the ISS. Bad clock code made thrusters fire like crazy and run out of fuel.
The 2nd was on the launch pad in '21, but Florida air made valves seize. It launched in '22, had 2 thrusters fail, but still got to the ISS and back.
Before this crewed flight test, they've been replacing parachute harnessing and flammable tape.
Because it's the only realistic option on a federal level until we have ranked choice voting.
What about Substack?
I voted 3rd party in 2016. I regret it all the time.
On the issue of genocide, the vote is between more or less. Voting 3rd party, Republican, or abstaining is a vote for more genocide.
The moral high ground and smugness is worthless compared to less genocide, abortion, education, trans lives, healthcare, etc.
"The Mars 2020 science team wasn't interested in Ingenuity."
The space industry need to take a broader examination of issues related to space sustainability that go beyond preventing the growth of space debris.
Two celestial interlopers in Solar System have scientists eagerly anticipating more.
Japan’s SLIM spacecraft lowers orbit ahead of Friday moon landing attempt Japan’s SLIM moon lander has entered a lower, near-circular lunar orbit ahead of its Jan. 19 landing attempt.
Astrobotic said its Peregrine spacecraft suffered an unspecified anomaly hours after launch Jan. 8, putting its plans to land on the moon in jeopardy.
A NASA study examined several options for continuing a national laboratory in low Earth orbit after the ISS but stopped short of recommending one
In the age of megaconstellations, managing orbital capacity requires a more thoughtful, holistic approach than simply counting satellites.
The image is a vivid demonstration of the changing of the seasons.
A problem with the Hubble Space Telescope has renewed discussion about whether and how NASA might approve a private mission to service it.
Amazon has signed a contract with SpaceX to launch an unspecified number of satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband constellation on three Falcon 9 rockets from mid-2025.
NASA’s Dragonfly mission team is moving on to the next stage of development on the revolutionary, car-sized nuclear-powered drone it plans to fly over and land on the organic-rich sands of Saturn’s large moon Titan.
Lunar rover developer Astrolab announced eight customers have signed contracts worth more than $160 million for its first mission to the moon in 2026.
A NASA official said a short-term gap between the International Space Station (ISS) and commercial successors would not be “the end of the world.”
Virgin Galactic will reduce the frequency of flights of its current suborbital vehicle and stop them entirely by mid-2024.
Industry executives argue that SpaceX’s dominant position in the launch market is making it difficult for small launch vehicles to compete.
Posted: October 13, 2023 1:43 pm ET | Last Updated: October 13, 2023 6:10 pm ET | NASA launched the Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid by that name today on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, its first use of the Falcon Heavy. Psyche will arrive its destination in 2029.
"NASA’s aspirational goal to achieve a cost savings of 50 percent is highly unrealistic."
Wildly missed revenue projections cast a long shadow over space firms that went public by merging with a SPAC as their shares continue to underperform in the market.
Posted: September 21, 2023 8:17 pm ET | Last Updated: September 21, 2023 8:17 pm ET | A second Independent Review Board on the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return mission concludes that the mission cannot be completed on the cost and schedule NASA advertises. The current design would cost $8-9.6 billion and...